PPL To Lobby Capitol Hill

Phonographic Performance Ltd. collected a record £127.6 million in royalties in 2008, and hopes to increase that figure by changing the long-standing American convention in which radio stations don’t pay for the songs they play.

The London-based organization that collects airplay royalties for singers, bands and their record companies intended to have chief exec Fran Nevrkla in Washington by May 13, when the U.S. Congress was to debate the issue.

Welsh singer Duffy has reportedly pocketed more than £100,000 in performance royalties from “Mercy,” last year’s most played song on radio and in bars.

Royalties vary from about £75 every time a song is played on Radio 1 to a tiny share of the £100 annual license fee the PPL charges to pubs, clubs and restaurants for the right to play music.

“A huge smash hit would make between £200,000 and £250,000 in a year,” Nevrkla explained.

The money PPL collects is split between the performer and the record company after the collection agency deducts its administration costs. Songwriters receive a separate royalty collected by the Performing Rights Society. Royalties from music played over the Internet are taken directly by the record companies.

After Duffy, the next most popular tracks were songs by Take That and Coldplay.

During the year the largest area of royalty growth was international revenues, which soared by 69 percent to £15.4 million as the PPL extended agreements to collect sums generated by British musicians abroad.

PPL hopes to generate a further £20 million annually from the United States, provided American politicians agree to change the way the country looks at broadcast royalties.